Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu calls early elections

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu announced early elections on Tuesday
evening, saying that they must be held "as soon as possible."

Likud sources said that
Netanyahu would hold elections earlier than scheduled in order to catch
his opponents off guard and to minimize damage to the economy.

The date previously discussed, February 13, 2013, marks four years since the last election. If the Knesset is dissolved on October 15, the earliest possible time to hold an election would be January 15, 2013.